


I can only say thank you, for now

by Lakeylou



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-16 23:43:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9294896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lakeylou/pseuds/Lakeylou
Summary: An extra scene stuck on the end of 4.09. Red and Lizzie in a car.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the blacklist or the characters.

Lizzie

_Can we meet?_

8:43 PM

 

Nick's Pizza

_Is everything alright?_

8:44 PM

 

Lizzie

_Yes._

8:45 PM

 

Nick's Pizza

_Will be there in ten minutes._

8:50 PM

 

Lizzie

_I can come to you if it's easier?_

8:51 PM

 

Nick's Pizza

_No, we are already out. Ten minutes._

8:54 PM

 

Lizzie

_I'll be outside._

8:56 PM

 

Liz waits outside the warehouse as soon as she sends her message. She spends five minutes contemplating whether to run back inside and grab something warmer to wear, but she doesn't bother. Agnes is down, Tom is already tired, and Liz has a strange sort of energy tingling away inside her, so she doesn't want to keep them awake with her pacing. She arrived home from seeing Cooper a little after seven, her badge in her pocket and her gun slipped down the back of her jeans. Tom had said her name was mentioned on the news over and over while she was out, interviews and opinions from different people about what she'd done, and what had happened earlier in the day. _Get ready for being pestered, Liz,_ Tom had said. _You could write a book._

The last thing she wants to do is write about the time she shot someone dead. But she didn't tell him that. Instead, she turned off the television. It's weird to see herself on screen, to hear news presenters she has grown up watching say her name.

* * *

 

Red is punctual as always; his black car slows down the drive, the sound of gravel under the tyres strangely comforting. The car idles next to her, and Liz doesn't give Red or Dembe a chance to hop out. She opens the back door, slides in and rests heavily against the leather seat.

"Hey," her breath is cold in the warm car.

"Hello," Red nods, looks completely nonchalant, as if getting someone a pardon is something he does frequently.

Liz's restlessness eases inside the car, but she doesn't want Dembe to turn the engine off. She wants to drive around the block, see the city lights or something.

"You must be cold, Lizzie, standing out there in the breeze. Dembe," Red leans forward and places a hand on the head rest in front of him. "Would you turn the heat up? I can see Elizabeth shaking. Thank you."

"Can we drive for a bit?" Liz adds.

"Anywhere in particular?" Dembe questions.

"No. Just... around, aimlessly."

Dembe eyes Red in the rearview mirror and waits for the older man to nod his agreement. It doesn't take long, and soon Red slides his gaze back to Liz and watches the bump of her leg as Dembe turns the vehicle back down the drive.

Red will know why she wants to see him, of course he will. She pulls the badge out of her jacket pocket and tosses it on his lap, averts her eyes when it lands directly on the bunched crotch of his pants. Red's lips twitch when he looks down at the badge. He flips it open with his thumb and forefinger.

"You've been busy," she tells him.

Red reads the badge, each line, name, position, everything.

"How did you do it?"

"You deserve it," he passes it back to her, relaxes into his seat. Relief oozes from him. "I'm sure Harold will be pleased to have you back and working where you belong."

"He's Intrigued. We both are."

Dembe clears his throat from the front as he indicates to turn down a quite street. Liz wonders if he helped, or if Red went lone wolf.

"You're not going to tell me how you pulled it off, are you?"

Red shakes his head. "It's not the most exciting story to tell, Lizzie. I talked an awful lot... Oh, Dembe," something outside catches his attention. He taps the tip of his finger against the glass. "There's that little noodle canteen Mrs. Blasgo recommended. We must go there and give it a try."

Liz rests her head back against the headrest at an angle where she can see his profile. She let's a little breath out her nose, smiles at his deflection.

* * *

The streets they pass become more familiar. Dembe has gone around a few blocks she doesn't entirely recognize, but now he is driving her back. No progress has been made on finding a house, with work and Agnes, things have been busy. Tom hasn't looked either, not at all, and Liz feels guilty each time she walks past Baz or the two younger body guards stationed in and outside thewarehouse.

"Can I pay for rent?" Liz asks in the quiet that has lingered. "Until I find a place."

Red turns and frowns at her. She knows he won't like the idea of her paying, thinks it's pointless when he has the money and wants nothing more than to keep her and Agnes safe with it, but she doesn't want him to pay, feels rude that he is.

"If you insist," he responds to her surprise.

"Really?"

"I don't want you to. But if it will make you feel better."

"It will."

Red pouts as he stares ahead. "Dembe will sort it with you," he says.

"Thanks."

Paying Red money will annoy Tom, she's sure, so maybe he will be more inclined to start looking for a place. The thought of paying her way makes her feel better, more in control. Red looks uncomfortable with the idea still, and something tells her the rent money he receives will not be touched.

"I get a friends discount though, right?"

"Ah." Red smiles charmingly at her. "Perhaps."

* * *

Dembe pulls up outside her place and leaves the car immediately. He mentions something about talking to Baz, and all but jogs away from the car. Liz peers after him then turns back to Red.

"Thank you for this," she wiggles her badge in the small space between them. "So much."

Red bobs his head. "You're welcome."

Lips pressed together in a smile, she reaches and fumbles for his hand. It's warm and slack in her grip and she glances down just in time to see him squeeze her hand gently.

"I don't know how you managed to do it," she tells him. "But I'm not surprised... It's always you."

Red's eyelids flutter in an attempt to compose himself. Or something, she's not sure. A lump has made a home in her throat, and she swallows to get rid of it.

"You're always here for me," Liz shakes her head. It's unbelievable, really, his utter devotion to her. "Even when I give you good reasons not to be..."

Red flips their hands so his covers hers, hides her small one under his large one. He looks interested, frown still in place as he moves his hand back underneath, examines the light veins on hand, her fingers free of any rings. He strokes his thumb along the back of her hand, runs it over her forefinger and rests his hand safely back in his lap.

"There's always a good reason," he tells her.

Liz holds his gaze, watches the waver of his eyelids, the colour in his eyes lighten as water gathers in the corners. She herself feels frozen, bolted to this leather seat in Red's car, and her belt is still on. She could stay here awhile, she thinks. _What's his reason?_ They could go for another drive, go to that noodle place he wanted to try. _Love?_ It opens late, she's been there once before. _Love_. _Home_. The driver's door opens and her shoulders jump at the sudden intrusion. Red looks forward too, startled by Dembe's presence.

Nothing has happened to be awkward about, but Liz swallows and unbuckles her seat belt with clumsy hands.

"So what happens now," she asks unsteadily, curves two fingers around the door handle. Her body feels hot, and how high did Dembe turn the heat up? "Still working together?"

"Working? Yes. Together? That is up to you," Red replies, and his voice has managed to smooth over perfectly fine.

"What do you me-"

"Goodnight Lizzie," his gaze has landed somewhere else, somewhere over her shoulder and outside. Liz looks out the window, sees Tom standing by the open door of the warehouse.

Liz turns back, gives Red a small smile. She bids a farewell to Dembe, steps out of the car and leans down to speak to Red again.

"Call me when you have a case," she says, still wary of his previous answer. "So _we_ can get to work."

* * *

 


End file.
